Spring Football Notebook | Garton springs to forefront at QB

In 2006, Robert Irvin had one of the best seasons for a Penn sophomore quarterback in the past half-century. Then he lost much of the next year to injury and would never again claim the top of the depth chart.

But the coaching staff had never found a consistent replacement for him until late last season, when they were forced to turn to unknown sophomore Keiffer Garton, having literally run out of options. The Quakers started spring practices last week, and the coaching staff seems to have united behind behind Garton as No. 1 for now. For the first time in three years, Penn has a clear succession plan.

Garton sits ahead of freshman Chad Miller and (presumably) junior Kyle Olson, who moonlighted as the team's punter last year, his first with the program after transferring from Fullerton College.

Olson eventually proved to be a more creative play-maker than Irvin and earned his first start on Nov. 1. But he went down with an anterior cruciate ligament tear before halftime, which opened the door to Garton's ascent.

Olson's specific injury has a rehabilitation time of 9-12 months, Penn quarterbacks coach Larry Woods said. The best-case rehab scenario means that Olson could recover in time to steal the spotlight away from Garton in the season's first few games, just as he did with Irvin.

But if Olson's recovery takes longer, or if he has a setback, he might not be at 100 percent until past the halfway point of the season, and it would be difficult to see him usurping anyone that late.

The plan had once been for Irvin to return as a fifth-year senior. But with several established quarterbacks already returning, it seemed unlikely that Irvin would carve out a role for himself on the 2009 Quakers.

He will be back with the team anyway, though, working voluntarily as an assistant coach while completing his ninth semester.

Garton was essentially the anti-Irvin: slightly smaller and with a weaker arm, but more agile and more comfortable outside the pocket.

The Quakers are also practicing with sophomore Ryan Bwho, who was not on last year's roster.

New responsibility. These spring practices are former offensive-line coach Jon McLaughlin's first as Penn's offensive coordinator. He's still listed as the offensive-line coach in the team's spring prospectus.

As an internal hire, he faces a shallower learning curve than his predecessors, but he has still had to spend much of his time lately familiarizing himself the Quakers' tailbacks, quarterbacks and receivers. He said that he wanted to make sure that he didn't let his familiarity with the offensive line cause him to treat it differently from his other responsibilities.

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